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Focus on self-care during the holidays

And during the holiday season, it’s more important than ever to do what makes us feel good.

I know the holidays can be a very happy time for people as they get to spend it with family and friends.

However, we have to be aware that not everyone has the same warm and fuzzy feelings tied to this time of year.

On the (excellent) early ’00s teen drama, “The O.C.,” protagonist Ryan Atwood summed it up best: “There’s drinking, crying, cops. Well, then it must be Christmas.”

To top it all off, we’re still not operating as “normal,” whatever normal means now thanks to COVID-19.

Instead of the majority of us hunkering down in our houses until it’s safe, we’re just living alongside the pandemic. People still work 40 or more hours per week. Parents work from home and take care of their children.

Many parents still home-school their kids. And some of those parents also may take care of their own parents.

We all still deal with finances, carpools, practices, marriages, relationships and more.

If we learned anything from local psychotherapist Melissa Loughney last year, it’s that we need to be very gentle with ourselves because, on top of everything else we’re doing, we’re also trying to stay healthy and alive during a global pandemic. Throw the holidays into that mix, and you have everything stressful all wrapped up in a big red bow.

The conversation around self-care exploded over the last few years, but it’s still something we desperately need in these days when emotional, mental and physical stressors are rampant.

The holidays can put all kinds of stress on us, and it’s OK to take time for yourself. I’d even go as far as to say it’s medically necessary to take some time to focus on you, your feelings and doing something to make yourself happy.

There is not a “one size fits all” for self-care.

Sometimes it means getting your finances in order or cutting a toxic person out of your life. Sometimes it means getting into therapy (if it’s financially viable).

Other times, taking care of yourself is doing a face mask. It’s going for a long hike. It’s eating a Krispy Kreme doughnut.

One thing is for certain, though: shaming other people’s methods of how they make themselves feel good is unhelpful, not to mention corny.

Let people enjoy things.

You have to take care of yourself. Do something for yourself within the next coming days. Maybe you can even try to incorporate it into your everyday life.

It’s not selfish - it’s necessary.

It means you are important to you, and when it all comes down to it, you’re all you’ve got.

Gia Mazur is a staff writer for the Lifestyles Department of The Times-Tribune. Contact her at gmazur@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9127 or @gmazurTT on Twitter.